My dog keep looking up toward the ceiling. He did this before after surgery, but he hasn&

Customer Question

My dog keep looking up toward the ceiling. He did this before after surgery, but he hasn't had any in a few months. is there some other reason a dog keeps looking upward. could his ears have something in them? He's been more skittish also.

Hi Sir or Madam,My name is ***** ***** I’ve been involved professionally with dogs in the health and behavioral fields for over 18 years. It will be my pleasure to work with you today.There are a few possible causes of this behavior including an eye issue, seizure activity or even mice.I had a dog that looked at the ceiling for about a month, and whining on and off. We had him checked out, and everything was fine. When we went to put up a ceiling fan, we found a mouse nest in the junction box. The dog could hear and smell the mice in the nest. So this is a possibility. We didn't even know we had mice in the house so it came as a surprise.Some types of seizures can cause abnormal behavior, one such behavior is trying to catch flies that are not there, so that can not be ruled out as a cause either. You can read about these here:http://www.canine-epilepsy.net/flybite/flybite.htmlhttp://www.canine-epilepsy.net/basics/basics_index.htmlYou can read about all types of seizures here:http://www.petplace.com/dogs/intervertebral-disc-disease-thoracolumbar-area-in-dogs/page1.aspxhttp://www.petplace.com/dogs/intervertebral-disc-disease-cervical-area/page1.aspxToby may also have injured his eye and developed an ulceration creating a spot in his vision which is making him think he sees something that isn't there. So he sees the spot and moves his head higher to look for it and of course it moves too. Since he can't ever actually see it fully, this leads to stress, and can lead to licking behavior and even crying.Since seizures can be the result of toxin exposure, I'd err on the side of caution and have your dog seen if the behavior continues. If your dog hasn't eaten recently and is a smaller dog, you might want to put a drop of karo or pancake syrup on his tongue in case he is hypoglycemic. You can read about that here.http://www.petplace.com/dogs/hypoglycemia-in-dogs/page1.aspxI hope this information is helpful to you. If it is, please rate at this time. It will not prevent further communication back and forth. If you need further information or clarification, please respond and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.